Volleyball is returning to the road, where it’s gone 5-2, after a one-game stint at home.

NIU will travel to San Luis Obispo, Calif., for a date with the Cal Poly Mustangs (4-4) 7 p.m. Friday and then to Santa Barbara, Calif., for games against the Santa Clara Broncos (8-2) noon Saturday and the California-Santa Barbara Gauchos (3-6) 9 p.m. Saturday.

“We’ve been playing really good teams,” said head coach Ray Gooden. “There’s a level of expectation that you have to have in order to play against those teams.”

The Huskies’ short-lived play on Victor E. Court ended with a 3-1 win Tuesday over the Illinois-Chicago Flames.

The NIU defense disrupted the UIC attack, resulting in a .197 attack percentage and 14 blocks.

On offense, the Huskie trend of a trio of double-digit spike specialists continued with Mary Grace Kelly, Lauren Zielinski and Mackenzie Roddy, who all reached 10 or more kills Tuesday.

Cal Poly

The Mustangs will look to stay perfect at home when the Huskies come to town Friday.

Cal Poly opened its home slate last weekend in dramatic fashion, nearly sweeping everyone that stepped on the opposite side of the net, finishing 10 sets with only one loss. The performance resulted in the Mustangs completing a sweep of the Big West honors of the week, as players earned the Big West Conference Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week and Freshman Player of the Week awards.

Santa Clara

Santa Clara is coming off a win over then-No. 20 Duke and a 3-0 loss (25-14, 25-15, 25-11) to No. 1 Stanford from this weekend. The Broncos gave the No. 1 team in the country a bit of a run in the middle set but struggled to score in the other two. Senior outside hitter Taylor Milton has been named to three straight all-tournament teams this season.

California-Santa Barbara

The Gauchos from UCSB have looked decent as of late, going 3-2, but are in an early season hole, having lost six of nine matches. They opened the season on a four-game losing streak, but the Gauchos may find their stride when they play in their home opener this weekend.

“They are three really good programs we’re playing against,” Gooden said. “Every match is going to have its own story. I think that if we’re able to play consistently we’ll have a chance to show them our style because I think our style is a little different than what you’re going to see out West.”